Sixers coach Doug Collins likes his team to treat the third quarter like its a brand new ballgame. Oftentimes, he says, a team can open the second half with a decisive run that makes the final quarter a cakewalk.
On Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center, thats exactly what happened.
An 18-2 run to open the third by the Brooklyn Nets turned a one-point game into a rout and led the way for the Sixers fourth straight loss in an ugly 109-89 decision (see Instant Replay). The Sixers shot just 31.5 percent in the third quarter, did not attempt a foul shot and were outrebounded by Reggie Evans.
No, not the Brooklyn Nets Reggie Evans.
At the end of the third quarter, the Sixers had 22 total rebounds and Evans, the Sixers former power forward, had 23 boards. Had Evans played in the final quarter of the game, he very well could have equaled the Wells Fargo Center record of 24 set by Jayson Williams of the Nets and Andrew Bogut of Milwaukee.
But a few minutes into the fourth quarter, Brooklyn had built its lead to 26 points.
So after the Sixers snatched a loss from the jaws of victory with a horrid third quarter, Collins didnt have much to offer in the way of excuses. His team was lethargic and had no energy and Collins couldnt come up with a remedy.
We had no energy at all in the second half, Collins said. We were so, so lethargic and we had no energy at all. We couldnt get ourselves going.
Rather than rant and rave in the locker room after another big loss, Collins says he didnt say a word to the team following the loss to the Nets.
I let them speak, Collins said.
Veteran Thad Young was one of the players who spoke to the team and urged his teammates to concentrate on defense.
Until we defend, were not going to win games, Young said. Games can jump on us and it can go downhill very fast. I was on a 27-win team and I told them that I dont like going home right after the season. I want to be in the playoffs. I want to be a contender. Were not in talks as a contending team right now.
Young has a point. The Sixers have allowed 109 points in three straight games and have allowed an average of 104.2 points during five games in January.
Obviously, another 20-point loss was not the way the Sixers had hoped to kick off a stretch in which they play 14 of 17 games at home. This, of course, comes after a 2-6 road trip that the Sixers ended with back-to-back 20-plus point defeats.
In other words, the 15-21 Sixers are struggling and though they are playing a lot of games at home, the quality of the opposition isnt going to get any easier. After the game, the Sixers jetted to Toronto for the second game of another back-to-back against the Raptors. Then the team comes home for games against Houston, San Antonio, New York and Memphis.
Home or away, the Sixers will have their work cut out for them.
You have Houston coming in. You have San Antonio coming in. You have the Knicks coming in, Collins said. Unfortunately, were not going to play a preseason schedule that a Big East team might play to get about nine wins in a row to get you back rolling. Were going to have to beat great teams. To do that, were going to have to play good basketball. As Ive said before, I really dont believe that we play that much differently at home than we do on the road. What happens is the teams that are playing at home against us play better than maybe they do on the road. Thats the differential.
Meanwhile, the Sixers continued their struggles in getting to foul line. In Tuesdays loss they shot just 10 foul shots and only four of them in the second half. Brooklyn went to the line 22 times and got 59 points combined from the foul line and on three-pointers.
Before the season, Collins said he wanted to get 40 points a night from the foul line and three-point range. So far theyve done it in just seven games. Still, the Sixers took 27 shots in the paint to the Nets 33 and still could not get half the amount of foul shots.
Collins, fearing a fine from the league, declined to discuss the foul-shot disparity.
Its not on us anymore, Evan Turner said. We cant argue about what we cant control.
Then again, it doesnt seem as if the Sixers have been able to control much of anything lately. At least not when it comes to stopping the opposition from scoring.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com.